3:10pm:Australian shares fell as the penultimate day of the August company reporting season delivered some soft results, and official statistics showed the economy's transition from mining to non-mining led business investment is still struggling.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index and the broader All Ordinaries Index each lost 0.5 per centto 5624.4 points and 5621.3 points respectively. Surprisingly, Qantas Airways was the standout performer of the day. The stock flew ahead despite revealing a massive blow out in its annual loss.

Local shares took a soft lead from the United States. The S&P 500 idled at 2000.12 points on Wednesday night, after closing above 2000 points for the first time in the previous session.

Major markets around Asia fell in the afternoon session amid heightened geo-political risk as ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iraq-Syria escalated.

In local economic news, ABS data showed business investment was stronger than forecast - helped by a lift in outlays by services firms. June quarter capital expenditure rose 1.1 per cent . Consensus expectation was for a 0.9 per cent fall. The dollar got a spike from the news but shares remained depressed.

"The mix of the capex survey was encouraging, but we think the contrast between falling mining and improving non-mining investment might end up more stark," Barclays economist Keiran Davies said.

Qantas Airways lifted 7 per cent to $1.39, despite its turbulent outlook. The airline showed a much bigger than forecast $2.8 billion annual net loss, the biggest in its history, amid heavy write-downs on its fleet. The size of the loss approaches the $3 billion value of the company as measured by market capitalisation.

"Nothing was announced about what the company plans to do with its Frequent Flyer business. There is hidden wealth locked up in that division so Qantas is not a lost cause yet," Zurich Financial Services senior investment strategist Patrick Noble said.

"While there have been a few disappointments, overall August reporting season has delivered a pretty solid batch of results," Mr Noble said.

3:01pm: Meanwhile, back with the Ukraine conflict, which investors seem to have largely forgotten and where Russian soldiers and weaponry appear to be crossing the border, Canada's joint delegation to Nato has this helpful chart for the former super power:

2:49pm: And here are the best and worst for the day, with Qantas flying high, followed by biotech Mesoblast.

At the other end of the scale is Buru Energy, which has given back some of its recent gains. Atlas Iron reported today and was sold down heavily, although it was a tough day all round for iron ore miners, with Fortescue also featuring among the worst.

Perpetual and Japara were also among the reporting companies leaving investors unimpressed.

2:06pm: For those who came in late (and as an excuse to run our poll below for the last time), Qantasreported a monster loss this morning (a cool $2.84b). Yet as we approach the close, the airline's share price is 7.3 per cent higher.

Why?

The big number looks impressive but there is the alchemical art of accounting involved. Most importantly, as part of a broader review of its business, Qantas wrote down the value of its international fleet by $2.6 billion.

What that means is, the statutory loss of $2.8 billion does not represent a cash loss to the company, rather it is a paper loss in the value of its assets. It is a bit like when the value of your house goes up, or down, your wages and your bills do not move.

That said, in terms of the money in and out the door, Qantas was still in the red. The underlying loss of $646 million again looks like a big number, and it is, but, crucially, it was better than some had expected.

And for the first time in a long time, chief executive Alan Joyce said investors could expect an underlying profit in the first half of this financial year. That declaration came with a pretty hefty caveat of "no material worsening in competitive environment, including global economic conditions, market capacity growth, fuel prices and FX rates".

2:03pm: Credit Suisse analysts have kept their “outperform” recommendation on Prime Media, noting the company offers a strong yield and is a potential takeover candidate.

Prime Media reported a “robust” 2014 financial year “in the context of a difficult trading environment” with revenue up 1.2 per cent to $260 million and EBITDA increased 3.4 per cent to $64.8 million, “broadly in line with consensus”.

“Prime Media offers pure exposure to Seven West Media’s quality TV content,” the Credit Suisse team writes in a research note to clients this morning. “Whilst we expect advertising conditions to remain subdued in 2015 financial year, and have lowered our forecasts as a result, we see Prime Media as a well positioned business over time.”

Credit Suisse sees the high dividend yield as “sustainable” and the potential for the abolition of the audience reach rule in current financial year 2015 “which should be a positive catalyst for Prime Media.”

The stock is up 0.2 per cent today and down 1.7 per cent year-to-date at $1.03.

1:34pm: There’s been a bit of excitement around the S&P 500 hitting 2000 points for the first time this week, but according to blogger Scott Krisiloff the US market marked another major milestone this week:

If you count March 6, 2009, when we rallied from an intraday low of 666, as the first day of the bull market, Tuesday marked the 2000th calendar day of our current bull. How fitting then that Tuesday was also the day that the S&P 500 closed above 2000 for the first time.

At 2000 days old our current bull market is now the fourth longest US bull market since 1928. Since then, the only bull markets that have lasted longer were in 1974-1980 (2,248 days), 1949-1956 (2,607 days) and 1987-2000 (4,494 days).

Adding those bull markets together, the market has existed in a more extended bull market than this one on 3,349 calendar days—a little more than 10 per cent of the time.

1:31pm: Australia’s great boom in oil and gas investment is already past its peak and is firmly on the wane, with a lack of new projects on the horizon amid persistently high costs, according to consultancy EnergyQuest.

Investment in the sector peaked in the last quarter of 2013, but several new LNG projects are now nearing completion, with four set to begin production in the next 12 months, the consultancy noted in its latest quarterly report.

EnergyQuest principal Graeme Bethune said that Australia’s highest quality gas fields are already under development, and costs needed to be reduced to ensure that the lower-quality fields had a chance of being commercialised.

“Unfortunately there are few signs yet of moderating labour costs,” Dr Bethune said, noting that wages costs in construction rose by 2.9 per cent in the June quarter from a year earlier, well ahead of national wages growth of 2.6 per cent.

“This makes it an even greater challenge to develop lower quality fields that are inherently more expensive,” he said.

Some costs are easing, however, because of a significant fall in new work for engineering and construction companies that were operating near capacity last year.

EnergyQuest noted that the news on exploration is more encouraging, with Chevron making gas discoveries in the Carnarvon Basin off Western Australia, while ConocoPhillips and Santos have found liquids-rich gas in the Browse Basin further to the north. Apache last week also made an exciting discovery in the little-explored offshore CanningBasin.

“While investment in new projects is falling, spending on exploration is holding up at historic highs of around $4 billion a year and achieving good success,” Dr Bethune said.

Meanwhile, oil and gas production in the 2013-14 year reached a record, rising 1.6 per cent to 533.9 million barrels of oil equivalent, the report said.

1:08pm:Peabody Energy has pulled the $150 million sale of its Wilkie Creek coalmine to former billionaire Nathan Tinkler, saying his Singapore-based company Bentley Resources "was unable to meet its obligations" to close the deal.

Mr Tinkler had hoped to turn around his fortunes with the Wilkie Creek acquisition.

Bentley Resources initially made a non-refundable payment for the mine, in Queensland's Surat Basin, as part of a deal valued at $150 million in cash and debt.

But Peabody said the TInkler outfit could not meet its closing obligations.

12:48pm: The strongest demand at Australian bond auctions in a decade reflects yields in a sweet spot: more stable than those in the US and higher than those in Europe.

A sale of $500 million in three-year debt this month drew bids for seven times that amount, the most since 2004, government data show. A $200 million auction of four-year inflation-linked notes was similarly oversubscribed and today’s $500 million offering of five-month bills went to just two buyers.

Australian bonds are the world’s best performers during the past three months, including currency gains.

RBA governor Glenn Stevens has said he plans to keep interest rates on hold as he protects two decades of uninterrupted economic growth. In Europe, which is facing the threat of deflation, bond yields have plunged to records, curbing demand for the securities. US Federal Reserve policy makers are considering raising interest rates, fueling speculation Treasury prices will fall.

“The Australian economy is not strong compared to the American economy but not weak compared to the European economy,” said Hideaki Kuriki, a bond trader in Tokyo at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management. “And the yield level is high,” he said.

Australian benchmark 10-year notes yielded 3.3 per cent as of 12 p.m. in Sydney, falling from 4.24 per cent at the end of last year. That compared with yields of 2.35 per cent in the US and 0.91 per cent in Germany.

Demand for Australian assets has pushed the local currency up 5 per cent in 2014, the biggest gain among Group of 10 currencies against the greenback. The Aussie traded at 93.62 U.S. cents in Sydney and touched a three-week high after government data showed investment unexpectedly rose last quarter.

“The danger is that the Aussie weakens against the US currency as the Fed starts to raise rates,” said Wontark Doh, Seoul-based head of overseas fixed-income investment at Samsung Asset Management, South Korea’s largest private bond investor.

“Last year we sold our positions in Australian government bonds,” he said.

Aussie bonds - the world's best performers over the past three months - are in a "sweet spot". Photo: _ta'_

12:32pm: If you've been glued to the screen trawling through the nitty gritty of the reporting season, there's no reason why you would have caught up with the numbers released mid-week by Kenmare Resources, which Iluka has been running the rule over the past several weeks now.

It disclosed a rise in its June half net loss to $US32 million, from $US10.2 million a year earlier on revenue of $US81.2 million, up slightly from $US79.3 million.

And it's been to its bankers, cap in hand, for a rejig to its debt repayment schedule given slumping prices for ilmenite and rutile.

12:24pm: A number of US banks, including JPMorgan Chase and at least four others, were struck by hackers in a series of coordinated attacks this month, according to four people familiar with a continuing investigation into the crimes.

The hackers infiltrated the networks of the banks, siphoning off gigabytes of data, including cheque and savings account information, in what security experts described as a sophisticated cyberattack.

The motivation and origin of the attacks are not yet clear, according to investigators. The FBI is involved in the investigation, and in the past few weeks a number of security firms have been brought in to conduct forensic studies of the penetrated computer networks.

According to two other people briefed on the matter, hackers infiltrated the computer networks of some banks and stole cheque and savings account information from clients. It was not clear whether the attacks were financially motivated, or they were collecting intelligence as part of an espionage effort.

The intrusions were first reported by Bloomberg, which indicated that they were the work of Russian hackers. But security experts and government officials said they had not yet made that conclusion.

12:10pm: Here's Greg Fraser over at Kimber Capital's take on the Qantas numbers:

The Qantas result today confirmed why we don’t like airlines as an investment.

Alan Joyce was asked to compare the QAN result to this week’s Air New Zealand result and he said it was 'apples and oranges'. Perhaps he could have modified that by saying it was “apples and lemons” after QAN’s $646m pretax loss compared to AIR’s NZ$357m pretax profit!

The kiwis are feeling smug enough about keeping the Bledisloe Cup but they can certainly show QAN how to run an airline.

QAN wasn’t helped by the 9.5% increase in seats into and out of Australia last year, but it contributed to that problem itself through its JV with Emirates.

QAN also staunchly defended its domestic market share against the Virgin onslaught aimed at knicking some of QAN’s 80% corporate market share. That resulted in QAN admitting $566m of the pretax loss was due to yield and load factor decline due from market capacity growth running ahead of demand!

Poll: Qantas has posted a mega loss of $2.8 billion, but there are signs the worst is over for the airline. What do you think of the stock?

Poll form

Please select an answer. 'Buy': The shares look attractive at current valuations.

'Hold': Hmm, I think it's too early to jump in, but I'll stick with any shares I have.

11:55am: The Nikkei and the ASX200 are leading losses across the region, in what is otherwise a bit of a mixed session:

Japan (Nikkei): -0.5%

Hong Kong: +0.15%

Shanghai: -0.2%

Taiwan: _0.2%

Korea: +0.3%

ASX200: -0.5%

Singapore: +0.4%

New Zealand: +0.05%

‘‘There’s still an underlying trend of earnings growth, it’s just a matter of how much you want to pay for it,’’ says UBS strategist David Cassidy. ‘‘The market is fully valued and the argument for equities everywhere is that they are cheap versus interest rates. If you compare things to 10-year bond rates or cash rates, things look okay and that’s how the world’s working at the moment.’’

The Vertigan Panel’s cost benefit analysis used forecasts by Communications Chambers, that predicted 50 per cent of Australians would only need 15 megabits per second in 2023 and that only 0.01 per cent of households would need 48 megabits per second or more.

NBN Co’s profitability could be at risk if the predictions come true and customers avoid buying the more expensive and higher speed products.

Morrow said it was up to the federal government to change the national broadband network’s technologies to match the forecasts.

11:28am:More pain ahead for iron ore miners: Dalian futures are down 1.6 per cent at 632 yuan, pointing to continued pressure on the bulk commodity's price.

The iron ore spot price fell another 0.8 per cent overnight to a fresh two-year low of $US88.20 a tonne, chalking up its eight straight session of losses.

Local iron ore miners are facing some headwinds today, after a surprisingly strong session yesterday.

Fortescue is down 3.5 per cent at $4.16, trading close to the day's lows. Rio has dropped 1.25 per cent to $633.33, BHP is down 0.8 per cent at $37.02 and Atlas Iron has fallen 3.7 per cent to 59.25 cents.

But in his mind, it's everyone else who is living in a "Disneyland" delusion by failing to spot a bank-led property bubble that shows no sign of deflating.

It's "the sheer size of the loans relative to the incomes here" that troubles the author of the book Australia: Boom to Bust. "No one in the Western world has ever done what we are doing."

David, who used the case studies and research projects from his time at the IMD business school in Switzerland to form the basis of his book, warns that the three shaky pillars of real estate, resources and the banks will eventually collapse.

He says that with China having built more houses and apartments than it needs, demand for Australian ore will grind to a halt, triggering a weakness in the economy that will expose the banks.

He notes that the median house price to income of Sydney is nine times, compared to 7.3 times in New York and 3.2 times in London. He is particularly troubled by the surge in asset values in his Sutherland Shire neighbourhood, where land is changing hands for more than $1 million.

"I have never seen so many Range Rovers in the Shire. It's a small world out there and you know they haven't become millionaires overnight. It's eerily similar to Miami [in 2005 before the sub-prime crisis]. It feels like Groundhog Day," he said.

10:36am: Stocks here and in the US have had a stellar run in recent weeks, taking key indices either to record or multi-year highs. Local strategists at US investment bank Morgan Stanleyremain bullish on equities, despite identifying four key factors that could put an end to the rally:

Bond market sell-off (risk: moderate)A sudden unwinding of "the bond market conundrum" poses a key risk to bullish financial markets, Morgan Stanley says. However, the analysts add that while they expect bond yields to reverse this year's decline, they predict a moderate decline rather than an abrupt and disruptive sell-off.

Market bubbles (risk: low)Signs of emerging excesses are often precursors to market peaks, whether they be extreme asset valuations, emerging market imbalances or excess leverage, the analysts point out, adding that such excesses are often uncovered by interest rate rises. “But given the Fed has not yet even indicated an intention to begin to tighten, such an event is probably well into the future," the analysts said.

Rates too low for too long (risk: low)Another risk is that the Federal Reserve falls "behind the curve", meaning that US monetary policy is left too easy for too long, Morgan Stanley said. This could lead to a sharp sell-off in bond markets and an abrupt and disruptive tightening of Fed policy later on.

Geopolitical risks (risk: low)Despite the volatile geopolitical situation with the Ukraine-Russia crisis, the ISIS invasion of Iraq and the Israel-Gaza conflict, the analysts brushed aside concerns of geopolitical risks having any lingering impact on the market. Something to look out for though was a significant disruption to energy supplies, the analysts said.

10:20am:Linc Energy has agreed to sell a royalty it was due to receive from the production of coal from Adani Group's Carmichael project in Queensland back to the Indian company for $155 million as it seeks to further pay down debt.

CEO Peter Bond said the deal reflected Linc's strategy of simplifying its business and focusing on the development of its core assets, including its shale exploration venture in South Australia. He flagged further sales of non-core assets and flagged "at least one" asset sale likely prior to the end of the year.

"Though I would have liked to keep this asset for the longer term, it makes sense to start to cash up our balance sheet and commence to drop out the debt and focus on our world class assets like the Sapex shale," Mr Bond said.

He said that given the price of thermal coal had nearly halved since Linc sold the Carmichael coal project in the Galilee Basin to Adani four years ago, the risk of holding the royalty long-term versus using the cash from a sale "doesn't add up for us."

Mr Bond said Linc wanted to reduce its debt and strengthen its balance sheet, with a focus on completing this within the next 6-12 months.

The stock, which trades on the Singapore stock exchange, is up 2 per cent to 1.26 Singapore dollars.

10:08am: The Qantas result is well ahead of market expectations, and there is some light at the end of the tunnel for the stock, IG’s Evan Lucas says:

The clear stand-out reasons are that the depreciation expenses are lower and its staff costs were also lower than expected.

However, what is still concerning from a operational perspective is that passenger yields are poor and revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) are still sliding.

In a slightly more positive note, available seat kilometres (ASK) did increase (however by 1.1%), but this does illustrate that Qantas has dropped its 65% capacity mandate and seat utilisation is picking up as this was negative in the first half.

What is an interesting move is the change to the international division. Qantas is creating a new holding, which is the biggest change to Qantas since privatisation, and gives the company the chance to increase its foreign ownership.

The benefits are that it will ring-fence out its worst performing division, open up international partnership and most importantly insulate its profitable domestic business from foreign dilution.

So has Qantas finally reached the bottom? Possibly, Lucas says, but warns that further staff reductions could be a reality, and fuel and FX remain consistently volatile.

Despite the poor headlines, the underlying beat on consensus and the fact that Qantas is at the bottom of the cycle have led to a 'neutral' rating in IG's equity matrix.

"There is even room for broker upgrades as they asses the international spin-off and the clearing of legacy issues," Lucas says. "It’s a horrible read, but some light is visible at the end of the tunnel."

Poll: Qantas has posted a mega loss of $2.8 billion, but there are signs the worst is over for the airline. What do you think of the stock?

Poll form

Please select an answer. 'Buy': The shares look attractive at current valuations.

'Hold': Hmm, I think it's too early to jump in, but I'll stick with any shares I have.

9:58am: In another set of economic data today, new home sales fell 5.7 per cent in July, after a 1.2 per cent rise in June.

However, Housing Industry Association chief economist Harley Dale is still expecting 2014-15 to be a strong year for housing construction despite the July fall.

‘‘The 2013-14 fiscal year saw the recovery in new home sales gather strong momentum,’’ he said. ‘‘New home sales and building approvals may have peaked for the cycle, but their levels remain historically elevated.’’

Dale said more should be done to help increase the supply of housing, which will help the overall economy and keep a lid on house prices.

‘‘A serious focus on addressing conspicuous impediments to new housing supply, such as large and costly planning delays and a significant lack of titled land would of course extend the recovery,’’ he said.

Sales of flats, townhouses and semi-detached houses were down 10.9 per cent in July while sales of new detached houses fell 4.7 per cent.

"New home sales and building approvals may have peaked for the cycle," says the HIA.

9:44am:Business investment was stronger than expected in the June quarter, giving weight to Reserve Bank assumptions for second-quarter gross domestic product growth of 0.4 per cent or more.

The ABS said that seasonally-adjusted total new capital expenditure for the three months to end-June was ahead 1.1 per cent compared with the March quarter. Year-on-year, there was a fall of 4 per cent, reflecting the end of the mining investment boom.

Market consensus had a contraction of 0.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter, although some economists had predicted a fall of 2 per cent or more.

The March quarter estimate for total capital expenditure was revised upwards by $281 million (+0.8%).

9:24am: If you're wondering why Qantas shares are rallying, Malcolm Maiden suggests it may be a case of investors hoping the worst is over for the airline:

Alan Joyce says Qantas' statutory loss of $2.8 billion is confronting. The thing investors with nerves of steel will confront however is a classic timing question. Is the worst over, as Joyce claims, and are Qantas shares now a buy?

Qantas' massive loss came after it booked a huge writedown on the value of the aircraft that fly its international routes.

But behind that eye-catching writedown, Qantas's operational numbers were bad, though not as bad as expected, and Joyce is tipping a "rapid improvement" in profitability this year as capacity growth on its domestic and international routes slows. The group should post a profit in the December half, he says.

So despite the massive headline loss Joyce has made progress, and competitive pressure in the markets Qantas serves has eased. Some investors will be buying on the back of the result.

8:52am: Shares in mining services business Austin Engineering’s have plunged 8.3 per cent, but were down more than twice that at one stage, after the company reported net profit after tax slumped 97 per cent to $900,000, in line with the company’s guidance in May, due to the subdued capital spending in the mining sector.

Revenue fell 27 per cent to $209.9 million and EBITDA dived 70 per cent to $15.2 million.

Chief executive Michael Buckland said: “Austin is very well positioned to capitalise on what we expect is an emerging recovery cycle. We anticipate that in the near future customers are likely to be seeking productivity gains from their capital allocations and equipment that has exceeded its life cycle. Austin’s range of customised products are designed specifically to customer specification to achieve productivity advantages.”

8:36am: Can't get enough of Qantas? The airline's result was notable for its gaps, says the AFR's Chanticleer column:

Qantas’s $2.8 billion net loss – the biggest in its history – makes for ugly reading on the surface.

A bulk of that loss, $2.6 billion, is due to writedowns on the value of its international fleet which is a precursor to separating the division into a separate holding company.

The underlying numbers, which are a clearer indication of how the airline is performing, also make for grim reading although they are better than analysts’ consensus forecasts.

The underlying $646 million pretax loss is a reflection of a domestic turf war with rival Virgin. The international and Jetstar divisions recorded losses.

The top-line numbers were the only big surprise in the result which is notable for what it did not include. After months of speculation, chief executive Alan Joyce has confirmed he is not selling or floating the airline’s valuable loyalty business or splitting up international and domestic.

That could still come later. The international business will be housed in a new holding structure and corporate entity. This follows a change in foreign ownership laws and essentially opens the door to potential investors, although there is no sign of that happening soon.

There was no announcement on airport terminal sales or other asset divestments which will disappoint investors.

Joyce admits the numbers are confronting and they are. His challenge now is getting investors to believe the airline is in fact through the worstand he has a strategy to get the carrier back onto a path of sustainable earnings growth.

8:20am: Shares have dropped in early trade as most of the market's big names decline, while Qantas jumps 5 per cent after announced a mammoth loss for the year, but reported underlying earnings that beat estimates.

The ASX 200 and All Ords are 21 points, or 0.4 per cent, lower at 5630.1 and 5627.8, respectively.

All sectors are down, with heavyweights banks and miners providing the largest drag.

CSL is 0.9 per cent lower, while Telstra is down 0.5 per cent.

Asciano is 2.6 per cent lower as it trades ex-dividend.

Only 36 of the top 200 names have recorded gains. In addition to Qantas, early highlights include Ramsay Health Care, up 0.5 per cent on its results, while Brambles and QBE have gained 0.3 per cent each.

8:13am:Nine Entertainment Co has reported a full-year net profit of $144.2 million, compared with $136.7 million the previous year.

The free-to-air television, digital and events company reported revenue grew 5.7 per cent to $1.58 billion on a pro-forma basis for the year ended June 2014, while EBITDA grew by 4.6 per cent to $311 million.

This is Nine’s first full-year result since it was listed on the ASX last year. It had forecast in its prospectus net profit of $139.5 million for fiscal year 2014, revenue of $1.57 billion and EBITDA of $305 million.

The company’s Nine Network TV business grew its share of the metropolitan ad market to 38.7 per cent from 37.9 per cent, as it retained ratings leadership in the key demographics of 25 to 54 year olds, 16 to 39 year olds and 18 to 49 year olds.

Nine Network revenue was boosted by 4.2 per cent to $1.23 billion, while EBITDA was up by 9.2 per cent to $241.5 million.

“I am pleased with our performance in fiscal year 2014 – we have exceeded our prospectus forecasts across the board, and we are making good operational progress across each of our television, live and digital businesses,” Nine chief executive David Gyngell said.

7:58am: As we wait to see how investors will react to the airline's massive loss, it's worth pointing out that Qantas shares are down more than 40 per cent since Alan Joyce took over as chief executive in late 2008.

Somewhat ironically today's statutory loss of $2.84 billion is just as high as the airline's current market capitalisation.

No wonder the reactions on Twitter aren't flattering for Joyce:

Qantas chief Alan Joyce has many questions to answer. Board made foolish decisions, being eaten by Emirates. http://t.co/E15DfUqMvP

7:41am: Private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care posted a 14 per cent rise in full-year net profit to $303.8 million, boosted by strong growth in its Australian hospitals and the acquisition of French psychiatric operator Medipsy.

Excluding the effects of one-off items, the company's preferred metric of core net profit after tax rose 19 per cent to $346.2 million, in the year ended June 30. The underlying result beat analysts' expectations of net profit after tax of $335 million, and was up from $266.4 million in the same period last year.

Revenue rose 17.5 per cent to $4.9 billion, beating expectations of $4.8 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Core EBIT rose 19.6 per cent to $580.4 million, which also beat expectations of $566.3 million.

The company said it expects core net profit and earnings per share to grow 14 to 16 per cent in the 2015 financial year.

Ramsay shares have gained 50 per cent in the past year and hit a 12-month high of $51.33 on Wednesday. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index has gained 10 per cent in the same period.

The board declared a fully franked dividend of 51¢ a share, payable on September 24.

7:34am: Some more coming out of the Qantas release: the airline may seek a new investor to take a minority stake in its international business as part of its plans to pursue a split with its domestic business.

"We have decided to create a new holding company structure and corporate entity for Qantas International," said its chief executive, Alan Joyce. "This structure increases the potential for future investment."

Qantas would not be able to sell more than 49 per cent of the business, which is now loss-making, because it needs to maintain its international traffic rights.

But this structure would allow for more foreign investment without diluting exposure to the airline's profitable domestic business.

The $2.6 billion of write-downs to the Qantas International fleet announced this morning could assist the international business in returning to profitability as the move will cut depreciation costs by $200 million a year.

7:34am: Struggling Australian surfwear company Billabong International said its annual net loss shrank in a sign that its turnaround and cost saving strategy is beginning to bear fruit.

The company posted a net loss of $233.7 million for the year to June 30, including significant items such as impairment charges on brands and goodwill, compared with a net loss of A$860 million the previous year.

Excluding signficant items and discontinued businesses, EBITA was a profit of $52.5 million, the company said.

After years of declining sales, Billabong was saved last year by a refinancing deal from US private equity firms Centerbridge Partners LP and Oaktree Capital Management, which replaced its leadership.

Net profit after tax for the six months to June 30 dropped 15.9 per cent to $51.2 million, missing the company’s own guidance.

Revenue edged up 3.9 per cent to a record $602 million, while EBIT added 7 per cent to $78.3 million.

Underlying net profit also fell, down 2.9 per cent to $61.2 million.

A number of one-off restructuring and transaction costs contributed to the declines, but the company said these costs associated with restructuring parts of its cement operations and corporate functions were expected to contribute to significant savings.

CEO Martin Brydon said $112 million had been invested in improving efficiency and environmental performance in the cement and lime business. Pre-tax cost savings of around $8 million are expected in the current calendar year, followed by pre-tax cost savings of around $11 million in calendar year 2015.

7:22am: Today’s key economic data - and potentially market-moving - release is second-quarter capex, the signature report on business investment for the quarter and the year ahead, due at 11.30am.

There are two main figures to keep an eye out for, NAB says:

First is the Q2 real capex where we look for a print of -2 per cent and the market is expecting -0.9 per cent. There is a nuance of this figure in that only the “equipment, plant and machinery” component of this total feeds into next week’s GDP business investment figures so that component might influence market reaction. But the total initially will garner most of the initial headlines.

The other key data point from this report is the capital spending expectations for financial year 2014-15. The previous survey had an expectation of $137 billion and we look for a very slight upward revision to around $140-145 billion. Anything less than last quarter’s expectation would be soft while a number closer to $150 billion would be encouraging.

ANZ, meanwhile, is expecting a raw non-mining investment estimate of $64.5 billion which would point to a modest improvement in non-mining business investment of around 8 per cent year-on-year in 2014-15.

"Such an outcome would support our view that the transition to non-mining growth is occurring, albeit gradually, and as a result the RBA will keep interest rates on hold for an extended period to entrench the recovery in these sectors," ANZ says.

So what's the likely market reaction?

"Disappointing capex figures will make higher-yielding stocks look more attractive but on the flipside it’ll also increase the chance of a negative Q2 GDP print, something not normally associated as being bullish for equities," says markets strategist David Scutt.

"Conversely, should the data surprise to the upside, it’ll see rate hike expectations firm, a factor that may induce profit-taking despite it signalling the prospect of stronger economic growth ahead."

7:19am: Macquarie Capital will sell a $600 million stake, or 270 million shares, in ASX-listed credit reporting group Veda at $2.15 a share.

As first reported by The Australian Financial Review on Wednesday night, multiple trading desks were building books to take out at least half of Pacific Equity Partners' 63.5 per cent stake.

PEP will retain a 30 per cent stake in Veda, while the sell-down will see roughly 33 per cent of the company offered to institutional investors.

The private equity firm will remain Veda's largest shareholder.

The Financial Review reported late Wednesday that fund manager sources received calls from investment banks after the final bell, with heavyweight brokers UBS, Macquarie Capital, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup understood to be among the bidders.

Sources said banks started pitching at around $2 a share, but competition between the desks meant pitches were up above $2.10.

The pitching comes as Veda reported a better than expected full-year result on Wednesday, which saw the shares jump 6.3 per cent to $2.20 in the day's trade.

Fund manager sources said they received calls from investment banks after the final bell on Wednesday, with heavyweight brokers UBS, Macquarie Capital, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup understood to be among the bidders. Photo: Tamara Voninski

7:17am: Comparison website iSelect said its full-year net profit after tax fell 53 per cent to $6.3 million, due to a write-down of the revenue it expects to receive in future, which was announced a fortnight ago.

On the company’s normalised basis, net profit after tax rose 27 per cent to $18.3 million in the year ended June 30, up from $14.4 million in the same period last year.

To normalise its results iSelect has added back in $16.3 million of revenue, which was the value of future commissions that it overestimated and corrected in a revaluation of its ‘trail book’.

It also removed $900,000 in costs linked to the departure of former chief executive Matt McCann, who stepped down in October, and removed costs in the prior year linked to its June 2013 initial public offering.

Revenue rose 2 per cent to $120.4 million. Analysts had expected revenue of $135.5 million and net profit of $18.9 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

At Wednesday’s closing price of $1.20 the stock has lost 30 per cent of its value from a 12-month high of $1.725 hit last August.

7:11am:Qantas Airways has reported a better than expected full-year underlying loss before tax of $646 million but a statutory loss of $2.84 billion as a result of hefty restructuring charges and writedowns to its fleet.

The airline has decided to keep its frequent flyer program as expected but will form a new holding company that will allow its international business to participate in future consolidation opportunities.

"There is no doubt today's numbers are confronting but they represent the year that was past," Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.

"We have now come through the worst. There is a clear and significant easing of both international and domestic capacity growth."

Analysts had expected the airline to report an underlying pre-tax loss of around $750 million but had not expected the airline would take such heavy write-downs on its fleet.

Mr Joyce said Qantas was expected to return to an underlying profit before tax in the first half of the financial year, subject to factors outside its control.

Qantas has taken a $2.6 billion writedown to its international fleet, due to the historic cost of aircraft purchased with an average exchange rate from Australian dollars to US dollars of US68c.

7:08am: The rally that propelled the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index above a record 2000 lost a little bit of momentum overnight.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1 point to 2,000.1.

“The market is not overly expensive, not cheap either,” Ethan Anderson, senior portfolio manager at Rehmann Financial, said. “In the absence of strong corporate earnings, you are not necessarily going to see a huge surge in equities over the next 12 months. But the little notch up, on a regular basis, you’re likely to see continue.”

Global markets are surmounting crises in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip and Iraq as investors renew bets that stimulus will revive growth. Rallies from Brazil to Japan and the US gauge’s first trip above 2000 have sent the value of global equities to a record $US66 trillion.

The S&P 500 is up almost 5 per cent since Aug. 7, boosted by speculation the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates low as the economy strengthens. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has also signalled policy makers may consider introducing an asset-buying plan.

The US equity benchmark trades at 18 times the reported earnings of its companies, near the highest level since 2010.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15.3 points to 17,122. The Nasdaq Composite Index was little changed after a four-day rally.

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Featured comment:

It wont be long before the QAN management blame the invention of aircraft for their losses they must have run out of scapegoats as has their major shareholder Franklin Investment (so called) Advisers .

Sack the workers never the board!My sympathies go to the ordinary shareholders but never a "mea culpa" from management.

Commenter

Harry Rogers

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:21AM

Sort comments by:

Im pleased with my resulting purchases on FMG drove the price down for everyone else...so just have to console with a 10c divd cheque and see if i can conjure up some shiny IO futures rather than wheeling out the rusty relics...aww well got to be in to win/lose.

Commenter

GearshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 2:33PM

28th august all equity derivatives expire.

Commenter

NearshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 2:24PM

MYX getting hurt because they decided not to pay a divd after increasing NPAT by 24million from [-2.1m] year before,punters dont need another hand sitting tight fisted asleep at the wheel budget meeting board! there got that that one out.

Commenter

HearshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:55PM

As spoken about earlier, CFE is to pay 4 cents fully franked div on a 14.5 cent share in the next 6 months. What am I missing here? I read the company's details and they seem to be cash rich. Why isn't everybody buying them? This represents a 40% return in 6 months in divs alone! Should I buy a billion dollars worth?

Commenter

Gumly

Location

Mackay

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:22PM

See my comment elsewhere. Essentially just one off special dividends.

Commenter

Yin or yang

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:40PM

CFE was one of my long-term dogs due to problems with the ATO & Chinese company MCE. Both now resolved, almost at the same time, and sitting on a pile of cash plus saleable assets. Sometimes investors don't know a gift when they see one, having been so badly burned in the past by these small miners. This one will take off closer to the ex-div date for the first dividend of 2c f/f on 25/9. I already have a good-sized holding.

As far as I can see from a walk through the ASX, CFE is a minerals exploration company and the dividends reflect money received from resolution of some commercial disputes.

I would be comfortable if CFE had retained that money to develop its various minerals prospects - none seem to be earning taxable income so why those dividends are fully franked is beyond me.

It all looks a bit dubious to me - caveat emptor.

Commenter

Dr Kiwi

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 2:15PM

@PS an ex-div price of 9.5c is still more than I paid. I have a choice between f/f dividends, capital gains or both or continue to hold some or all for the sale of Marampa.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 3:09PM

"More pain ahead for iron ore miners: Dalian futures are down 1.6 per cent at 632 yuan, pointing to continued pressure on the bulk commodity's price."

The land of the empty apartment has not invented a new economic model. Uneconomic infrastructure and housing makes party princelings rich while slapping a huge debt on the population as a whole.

How they can be allowed to get away with ripping off the 500M rural poor without the poor rising up against them is something of a mystery. For now.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:39PM

Even worse how about investors with money in these iron ore mining companies? These guys have mouths to feed as well. Some times the bigger picture gets lost in all this caring sharing baloney the owners through the 'free world' consumers. Makes me sick with worry.

Commenter

just sayin'

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:17PM

Re the article at 1.10pm about yet another crash book coming out. Just shows the media and some punters have an insatiable appetite for crash stories.

The idea that our real estate is more expensive than NY or London is laughable. Quote whatever stats you like, but they will be comparing apples and oranges.

A typical "study" this year had a bold headline that said Sydney was more expensive than NY, but well into the article it noted that NY prices "exclude Manahattan". WTF? I'm sure if I "measured" Sydney prices but left out everything within 10k of the harbour that would be scientific wouldn't it?

The same article (down the bottom) did mention that Manhattan apartments averaged over $1m, more than double Sydney prices, and I can say from experience that a typical Manhattan apartment is much smaller than we build.

The only way to do a like for like is to nominate a certain sum of money, and then visit each of the cities and see what you get for that money. My wife and I have been doing that for the last two years, looking for a retirement apartment, and last week we bought in Melbourne. As appealing as the thought of living in London or NY was, we couldn't get a remotely comparable property for the same money.

Commenter

pass the red

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:35PM

An oldie but a goodie, "Investing in Qantas is like playing a video game. To win, investors need to get a firmer grip on the Joyce stick".

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:30PM

I normally let your comments go to the keeper. But.....NY has apartments smaller than 30 square meters does it? Friends of mine bought a run down 2 bed in Glebe for over $700k. Sydney is beyond ridiculous and many people will be terribly burned.

Commenter

JohnBB

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:32PM

Yeah but you're in melbourne.

Commenter

Captain budgie

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:43PM

Not too many 2 bedders on offer for under $700K in Manhattan John. Have a look on Zillow.

LOL, thanks for the condolences about Melbourne, guys. Not looking forward to the weather, true............... But if I could cope with London then Melbourne should be doable. (It helps if I keep telling myself that.)

On the brighter side, the new apartment looks out over a few suburbs, including Prahran. Had to chuckle over the irony. Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, etc etc etc. ....

Commenter

pass the red

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 2:48PM

The iron ore price is in free fall. And being a proxy for the Australian economy and house prices guess what follows?

Oh and Guy and Pete cancel your house insurance because you don't know what day you will be burgled. Always was a silly argument.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:34PM

Not silly at all. House Insurance offers practical protection against a given event (if or when it happens). A catastrophic market drop is also a given event that may or may not happen. However preaching endlessly about it provides no practical help in dealing with the event. Using your logic we should all be telling everyone not to buy a house because one day it will be robbed.

Commenter

Peter

Location

Oz

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:24PM

Airlines have a terrible profit margin and high fixed costs (and capex). Doesn't sound like a good investment to me.

Commenter

Sceptical Prophet

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:18PM

Not necessarily. As oil prices are coming down it will have a huge impact on airlines' cost structure. Profits will rise remarkably.

OUCH........who was it yesterday that wrote big banks failing would be 0% chance? Tax payer gautanteed. OUCH......who could have known?

Commenter

JohnBB

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:11PM

Joseph Stiglitz (again).

Commenter

Sticks

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:55PM

@ JohnBB.

"Ouch....Who could have known"?

Known what? Did a bank fail today? All I saw today was a story about yet another bloke trying to flog an alarmist book to the likes of yourself. His book can be filed next to the hundreds of others that have had their authors laughing all the way to the (irony intended) bank at your expense.

What is happening to AWE today. I was thinking their report was ok, down 3.91%

Commenter

alexander

Location

downer

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:00PM

Analysts were predicting better results apparently. See Market Live a few days ago.

Commenter

Yin or yang

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:43PM

Less demand for iron ore comes from less demand for the finished product, steel.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:57AM

The ASX goes up for 7 days ( if you could call it up) and then drops the lot just like the last five years. Stocks like XRO and QAN go up and all the good stocks go down. The Clayton Stockmarket strikes again.

Commenter

Peter

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:55AM

bet on the trend you have clearly identified!

Commenter

hunter

Location

the punter

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:08PM

"More pain ahead for iron ore miners: Dalian futures are down 1.6 per cent at 632 yuan, pointing to continued pressure on the bulk commodity's price."

Apparently it can go lower love love love this!

How low can the iron ore miners go?

Down, down prices are down.

Commenter

just sayin'

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:44AM

Does anyone know when ORL will report?

Commenter

Wwwish Lion

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:29AM

My previous data shows mid-Sept. I'm interested in this one, not that I hold many shares, but out of curiousity to see if the luxury end of retail copped the same whack as the basic end from the Budget. Logic would say not but the recent sell-down says that someone may be trading on inside knowledge.

Thanks Guys, Im holding 4643 of these....fingers crossed on good numbers for BB and Gap in particular

Commenter

Wwwish Lion

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 2:23PM

finally gone thru that 25 lvl. lets see if it can punch on down to the big fig 600, first stop 610.

Commenter

j

Location

syd

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:55AM

think the bots have been programmed into 5620 cobber

Commenter

hunter

Location

the punter

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:06PM

jeeze, double bottomed at 21 on the 1 min chart?quad bottomed at 26 on tues.this is very difficult.wow.

Commenter

j

Location

syd

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:07PM

Allan have you dropped into the Block's shopfront in Prahan to get the low down on how to DIY renovate and increase your primary residence worth? Gotta take advantage of the no CGT on primary residence!

Commenter

GC

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:49AM

Can anyone enlighten us on why the hell Arrium has lost all of its hot air after the last profit announcement? I was under the impression that they in fact made steel, how could the spot price for iron ore be weighing on the SP?

Commenter

thanks for the sensible

Location

answers ;)

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:41AM

QAN

Analyst "Lucas says. "It’s a horrible read, but some light is visible at the end of the tunnel."

...There's that damn light again perhaps we should walk towards it.

Whats that noise ..look out!....

Commenter

Harry Rogers

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:16AM

"Mr David, who used the case studies and research projects from his time at the IMD business school in Switzerland to form the basis of a book, Australia: Boom to Bust, warns that the three shaky pillars of real estate, resources and the banks will eventually collapse."

"The median house price to income of Sydney is nine times, compared to 7.3 times in New York and 3.2 times in London. Even Adelaide is more expensive than New York on price-to-income basis."

Housing boom!

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:11AM

Allan, I think you'll find the London figure is closer to 10, not 3

Commenter

Don't usually bother

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:27AM

Care to put a date on your crash predictions coming true, Allan? No, thought not. The most predictable thing is that you'll keep spruiking crashes without a date. The key word in that quote is 'eventually' A large meteorite will probably hit the earth, too....eventually.

Commenter

guy

Location

Pymble

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:45AM

Real life drama, book sales not strong I am tipping!

Commenter

not another one

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:16AM

heading for 3400 no doubt on those claims lol

Commenter

are we

Location

there yet?

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:19AM

Not sure why Alan bothers publishing his myopic and selective 'statistics'. We can all acknowledge he thinks one day there will be a crash. However he's been prattling on about it for so long now that its hardly a prediction. Eventually there will be a correction, but no one will be posting here that only one man had the foresight to see it coming...

Commenter

Peter

Location

Oz

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:06PM

@Guy -- not being able to offer an exact date for a housing crash doesn't negate the strength of the argument that one is coming. And the comparison with an asteroid hit is spurious at best.

Anyone who fails to see that the housing market is frightfully overvalued is deluded. But who knows how long central banks will continue to print money and keep interests low to try to get people to buy things they cannot afford? Eventually inflation will rear its ugly head (if they are ever up front with the true inflation numbers) and the system will collapse (again) under the weight of debt.

Commenter

jezza

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:21PM

Allan has just copied a typo from the article. London should be 7.3 times. The correct figure is given in the third last paragraph of the article. What isn't mentioned is that Sydney is still cheaper than Hong Kong, Vancouver and San Francisco.

Commenter

TP

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:32PM

@jezza - I've been reading Allan's prognostications (if you can really call it that) about house prices for at least 7 years. Surely he has to be called to account at some point. Anyone can make a prediction about a movement in any market that will happen.....eventually.

Commenter

guy

Location

Pymble

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 2:48PM

Yes Etrade is very slow today

Commenter

Flanagan

Location

Burradoo

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:10AM

Hmmm BCI not behaving the way I thought. I buy in 2.88, will pay 15c on Monday taking my cost base to 2.73.

To be honest, wouldn't mind picking a 2nd parcel <$2.50. I wonder if it'll get there :/

Commenter

GS

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:06AM

BCI is being quite heavily shorted. I think they will square their books on Monday when they drop Ex Div. $2.50 ? wouldn't surprise me as all the stars are out of alignment for Iron Ore at the moment.

Commenter

Learner

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:05AM

@GS I agree i got in at 2.89, the question is how low can you go

Commenter

Wwwish Lion

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:36AM

"new home sales fell 5.7 per cent in July"

Housing boom!

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:04AM

This data indicates new dwelling sales (i.e. Supply) is down.No sign of demand coming off, so I would point to increased prices.

Commenter

Irish Phil

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:25AM

So there is a housing boom? Man this thread is confusing. Is there or isn't there?

Commenter

angry

Location

renter

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:38AM

@angry - not the first time the internal contradiction in Allan's position has been pointed out to him. In summary: Allan thinks property prices are a bubble but at the same time, he claims prices have been growing slowly or falling for years. Some bubble.

Commenter

guy

Location

Pymble

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:21PM

The March quarter estimate for total capital expenditure was revised upwards by $281 million (+0.8%).

Took the plunge and bought some NEA yesterday. Volatile but strong growth prospects. Low costs. Profitable quicker than expected. Increasing customer base. Test flights in the US = potential overseas expansion in the near future. What do you guys think of it? And how would one value it based on current earnings figures?

Thanks Mitch. Good yielders and some of the other stats look good too eg PE 11.9 LMW.VLW +4.25% today.

Commenter

It's All About Making Money

Location

Lennox Head

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:18AM

SWL looking ok at current pricing with a 4.47% divd coming 100% ff

Commenter

BearshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:23AM

AJD - still a great yield story.

Commenter

Irish Phil

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:58AM

In case a newbie gets a rush of blood re CFE. The quite large dividends (2 @ 2 cps) are one off special dividends resulting from the favorable resolution of two disputes. Definitely a good thing but whether or not CFE is a good investment, depends on how far the SP drops after each of the dividends are paid. The dividend yield is quite misleading. As the dividends are fully franked a 4 cps drop would be quite OK.

Commenter

Yin or yang

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:18PM

AGO - crystal that the floor is late 0.50's, early 0.60. Iron slips over the last few days and the share price has stabilised and actually gone up a few cents... Can't wait to see what happens when the price heads back up towards $100. Not a bad result from them either shows they're still profitable at lower prices

Commenter

Realist

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:41AM

did get them at around 55c once just recently so floors can have basements.

Commenter

GearshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 2:29PM

They simply bought the wrong aircraft ;so they should get rid of the A380s B747s A330s And replace them with B777s .

The problem they have is no one will want the A380s (note not one US carrier has ordered the aicraft as it is a dud )however it should be a prioity to save massive amounts of fuel

Commenter

rexowen

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:40AM

No, the problem is not with the aircraft A380, which is a fantastic plane (as anyone that's been with Emirates A380 can attest to); the problem is simply bad management, bad decisions that have spiralled out of control; Amateurs in control, really.

Commenter

Realist

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:58AM

MLD in trading halt...anyone know why???

Commenter

Big MACA

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:38AM

QAN up by 7.7%.Who is buying and why?

Commenter

Alan

Location

Canberra

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:32AM

Come on. You know by now that it's not what has happened, but what people think will happen..

Commenter

Joel

Location

Syd

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:37AM

Alan Joyce CEO of QAN says: 'we have come through the worst and we have clear evidence of a brighter future.'But we hear this same message every year.Continuing losses and without the certainty of dividends in the pocket, means buying QAN now is just based on wishful AJ type thinking, or pure speculation. I see no reason to buy QAN, or any reason to regret selling out at $1.40. What is happening with the QAN price today defies logic. It should be falling. So who is buying and why?

Commenter

AB

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:01AM

Note how the usual 10:33 fight back did not occur today.Usually she'll jump up and spend the rest of the day trying to fall down. Today, however, looks more like a hiccough in the cardiograph of a dying man.The ASX will be down by more than 1% today at COB!

Commenter

Snidery Mark

Location

Port Stephens

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:32AM

lovely, more buying opportunities!

Commenter

hunter

Location

the punter

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:38AM

Two nice yeilders coming up next week.

Seven West Media (SWM) will yield 3% franked up to 4.4% on just next week's div

RCG Corp (RCG) will yield 3.8% franked up to 5.5% just on next week's div

NICE!

Commenter

GS

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:27AM

QANTAS vs AirNZIt's just like the Bledisloe Cup

Commenter

brian

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:22AM

JIN

Small cap but latest CEO comments make sense. Even tempted to buy a lottery ticket online.

I own shares and paid too much.

Commenter

Harry Rogers

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:03AM

Harry, I also paid too much for fear of missing out when the Mexican deal looked set. Copped the loss on the chin and redeployed the capital. My valuation today is less than $1.

Commenter

billyw

Location

avalon

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:05AM

Consistently profitable and consistent dividends. Very strong, highly liquid balance sheet. Needs Germany segment to become profitable or Mexico deal to strike before we see any real change in value unfortunately. I bought at $2, watched it go up over $2.6 and then plummet. Agree that it has very good potential though. The fundamentals are there, it's just a matter of time. Staying in for the long haul - at least we still get dividends (albeit small).

Commenter

Gee Pee

Location

SYD

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:25AM

Thanks for the comments nice to know I'm not alone.

Amazing how my "good " buys become long term holds.

JIN hopefully don't have to send to the kennel.

Commenter

Harry Rogers

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 2:32PM

That Alan Joyce fella is an abject failure.

Commenter

Ricky Stuart

Location

Canberra

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:03AM

Maybe QANTAS need to re-Joyce?

Commenter

Mal Malinger

Location

Outside Centre

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:30AM

Corporate Travel (CTD) results out, and look fantastic. Market loving it.That stock is now edging ahead of Vocus Communications to be my first triple-up.Bought about 18 months ago at $2.85, now trading at $7.38, up 197%. Anyone else long in this company??

Commenter

Irish Phil

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:58AM

CTD just hit $7.47, up 200.6% since I bought it 18 months ago. My first ever three-bagger! Very happy :)

Commenter

Irish Phil

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 12:52PM

You guys were pretty spot on with TLS ex-div share price. Hope it rebounds to $6

Commenter

RReagan

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:54AM

It's unlikely to rebound sharply, rather continue on it's nice steady upward path. It's a growth stock to hold and be patient in at the moment.

Commenter

Irish Phil

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:02AM

As for Qantas, it is the workers' fault, Alan Joyce cannot do any wrong, he is the pilot in command and that guy has a licence to fly the Qantas plane.

Commenter

paul

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:44AM

Neither could Sol.

Commenter

Oracle

Location

Oberon

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:59AM

Is it just me or is anyone else finding Etradepainfully slow this morning?

"Comparison website iSelect said its full-year net profit after tax fell 53 per cent to $6.3 million, due to a write-down of the revenue it expects to receive in future, which was announced a fortnight ago."

Wast of space, middleman businesses can all go bankrupt and nobody would care. Except the pollyannas that bought the float at 1.85.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:24AM

Shock news, Qantas announce loss, must sell off all ASX shareholdings before lunch.

Commenter

chris

Location

ocean grove

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:14AM

RMH good result happy to hold but that price is due a correction sometime?brought 1188 FMG @ 4.25

Commenter

earshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:13AM

RHC typo doh.....

Commenter

BearshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:37AM

Time to consolidate everyone!

The next GFC is just around the corner.

In the greater scheme of things, this period in time is "supposed" to be the high point of the economic cycle. If this is the best the bourse can do, then it's gonna be a long drop.

The UK economists predict their sharemarket to lose 60% in the near future.

Ignore Mr Ice Hockey and his drivel about keeping readies under the mattress - have as much cash money on the QT as you can possibly palm.

My educated opinion is she'll topple today, tomorrow or early next week and begin a nice slide. I may even throw in another earthquake for the Californians.Batten the hatches and man the life boats - iceberg ahead!

Commenter

Snidery Mark

Location

Port Stephens

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:12AM

Thanks for heads-up. Just converted all liquid assets to doubloons and toilet paper. Awaiting further instructions......

Commenter

Dooms

Location

Day

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:50AM

i think' it's gonna rock up to the 50 lvl. it'll take more than a flat dat to trigger yr sell off.not saying it's not gonna happen tho.

Commenter

j

Location

syd

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:56AM

Doubloons on a low at the present - but you're definitely on the right track with loo paper, there cap'n.

Other commodititties will include tampons, haircuts and baked beans - only essential commodititties.

Stand fast for now and then stand slower for a bit, then have a sit down for goodness sake.

Commenter

Snidery Mark

Location

Port Stephens

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:07AM

When tony appears in a flak jacket sell everything, and I reckon he's been fitted in one already.

Commenter

itchin' 4 action

Location

lnp h/q

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:23AM

The market loves the QAN result, up strongly in early trade. Accounting write-offs are one thing. Cash losses are what counts.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:09AM

Takeover or UBS upgraded its shorts to a buy or reverse takeover of Franklin??

Sorry Mitch just joking.

Never held shares

Commenter

Harry Rogers

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:38AM

I understand about market expectations but in what strange parallel universe does QAN's woeful results lead to a 5% SP increase? Great day to sell QAN if you're unlucky to hold.

Commenter

YIn or yang

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:17AM

What have you done Mr Joyce, what have you done...?

Commenter

No more mediocrity in charge

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:05AM

Is the RBA joking? If they imposed macro prudential people would be at less risk AND owe less. Seems to me they're more interested in protecting the big 4 banks. How did we get here? Where our nation's reserve has little interest in anything but big business. An exceptionally terrible situation for Australia's future.

Commenter

JohnBB

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:04AM

Too right, JohnBB, I'm more concerned about the future of jobs and employment - more people less jobs. Unless Australian chips in with e-tech manufacturing or production we'll all be rooned in Australia in 10 years.Europe are going through this problem already, although it isn't reflected in share markets... yet....The US will have to face it's debt levels soon, the Chinese economy will need reassessment, the Russians will start a war and the Middle East will become less significant as petrol becomes less important.Meanwhile Kim Kardashian charges $ 400K for a photo, eh?

Commenter

Snidery Mark

Location

Port Stephens

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:52AM

Yep. Most economists are waiting for consumers to buy more. An economy based on this is simply waiting to fail.

Commenter

JohnBB

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:32AM

Qantas shareholders need to jettison the board and get a new team captain.

Because the two bear little direct relation to each other? The AU is high because our interest rates are (relatively) high. Its likely we won't be dropping our rates any further, so until the US raises their rates and ends QE the dollar stays high (that's my 0.02)

Commenter

Peter

Location

Oz

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:14AM

Peter, you don't think the AUD would spike if Iron rose sharply?? Of course the two are related. Iron ore is a large part of GDP and thus reflective on our AUD. I suspect a slight fall in Iron doesn't have a large impact as supply is increasing - other factors like interest rates are having more influence. When the iron price rises substantially though i'd expect to see the AUD also rise.

Commenter

Realist

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:36AM

Eds any idea what time good ol UXC reports today? tks.

Ed: Hi BSB, no idea I'm afraid. Bloomberg says they were due to report last week, which isn't very helpful. Chrs

Commenter

BearshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:53AM

Guidance update 29th july says 28th august...but no time,

Commenter

earshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:05AM

How is a bull shaped like an ear? Or is it a trick question?

Commenter

Snidery Mark

Location

Port Stephens

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:02AM

9.00am Tomorrow 29th for those interested

Commenter

PearshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:33AM

That's more like it - bulls look nothing like ears - pears, however, that's a different matter entirely!The number of times I've looked at that silly Pamplona business and thought to myself, "Doesn't that bull look the spit of a Nashi?!" "No, not that one, the one that's just gored that 16 year old from downtown Klutzville Nebraska, on a seven day sabattical from the University of Sponge." "Yes, I'm right."

Commenter

Snidery Shaped Mark

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:39PM

Retrench the board and the CEO, and no golden handshakes, just clear their desks and kick their backsides out the door. The arrogance and sheer hide of Alan Joyce (he is on TV right now) is staggering.

Commenter

The Genuine Article

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:52AM

Hasn't Alan Joyce done a great job?

Going to war against his workers proved to be a great strategy.

Maybe if he now sacks the entire workforce, Qantas will be even more "lean and efficient"

Commenter

Fred

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:47AM

This might sound harsh, but we would be all the better for it. For all flights on Asia, sack all cabin crew apart from the head honcho and then replace them with cheapest possible Asian workers. This is what the Finnish airline Finnair did and they're the most successful European airline flying on Asia, and indeed the one with most Asian destinations.

Commenter

Dr No

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:25AM

Dr No, I cannot agree with you on this.

No matter the industry, replacing Australian workers with cheap foreign labour will NEVER be a good thing for Australia.

It is this 'put Australians last' attitude that has completely hollowed out our economy.

Commenter

Fred

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:36AM

@Fred - in general I would agree with that, but when it comes to cabin crew it's different. They would actually not be based over here, and not get any permanent visas. They would be based over in Asia. Secondly, spending as much time in the air as they do they normally go sterile. I'd rather have our ladies down here on the ground in Australia while their barren ones serve me whiskeys in the air.

Commenter

Dr No

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:04AM

No Fred, what's derailed the country is excessive and unjustified wages and a massive drop in productivity combined with the large, and unwarranted, middle class welfare.

Commenter

Groundswell77

Location

GC

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:08AM

Is it too soon to sound the gong on Qantas.. it seems that the secret plan to nose dive this airline into the ground has succeeded. Once it has been duly smashed to smithereens, a restructured phoenix of a brand will be relaunched to an incredulous world.. Geof your incubus has performed beyond all expectations..bravo.

Commenter

Lean Too

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:40AM

QAN share price up 6.4% ATMCheers!

Commenter

BTFD

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:26AM

SBM to add to the takeover rumour a transaction went thru this morning of 10 million shares @ 10.3c......

Commenter

BearshapedBull

Location

Mugpunters Lounge

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:39AM

oh super, does that mean I will be rich?

Commenter

barbara

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:49AM

How can a company with such poor profitability and so much debt, possibly be a takeover target? Maybe because the price is so cheap?

Commenter

Yin or yang

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 1:32PM

Are we sure that "The following stocks trade ex-dividend today: ....... M2 Group.

MTU appears to be trading ex dividend on 07 Oct 2014?

EDs: You're right, thanks for the heads up! Will fix. Chrs

Commenter

tanewi

Location

wollongong

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:38AM

QAN

Oh i forgot to mention they made $15.3bln EBITDA and total expenses!

Commenter

Harry Rogers

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:26AM

I think it was Warren Buffet that said never invest in airlines. They just lost money hand over first. It's one industry where my money won't ever go.

Commenter

Savyinvestor

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:53AM

There is an industry joke tha tgoes something like this.. How do you make a small fortune out of aviation.. Answer.. Start with a large one...boom tish

Commenter

Lean Too

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:15AM

As Kerry Packer said "if it flies, floats and something else starting with f that escapes me at the moment" - RENT it!

Commenter

wise words

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:25AM

It wont be long before the QAN management blame the invention of aircraft for their losses they must have run out of scapegoats as has their major shareholder Franklin Investment (so called) Advisers .

Sack the workers never the board!My sympathies go to the ordinary shareholders but never a "mea culpa" from management.

Commenter

Harry Rogers

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:21AM

No, birds are to blame for giving man the silly idea that he might be able to fly in the first place.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 7:46AM

It's all the fault of Freiherr Manfred von Richthofen and those magnificent men in their flying machines. Singing... "They go up-tiddly-up-up, they go down tiddly-down-down."QANTAS will change their name to Malaysian Airlines soon.

Commenter

Snidery Mark

Location

Port Stephens

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 8:56AM

@Snidery, but they are up 8%, does this make you mad? tard!

I do not hold QAN ;) But I'm not jelly either.

Commenter

just sayin'

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:15AM

Huh, "just saying", I don't have ANY shares whatsoever! I don't even share the blanket.I'm just a simple garden variety economist with a big brain and a very good memory for numbers - there are only 10 of them after all, eh?As for making me mad, been there done that and have a keyring to prove it.Also, hopefully you were referring to Grumpy Cat with the tard reference, elsewise I may have to eradicate your IP from the solar system, cappice?(You sound jelly, but.)

Commenter

Snidery Mark

Location

Port Stephens

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 9:48AM

If I was a sandwich there would be nothing left ;)

Commenter

just sayin'

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 10:51AM

Correct Harry. How can a board with no experience in the industry expect to make any sensible business decisions.

Commenter

Pistol Pete

Location

Date and time

August 28, 2014, 11:02AM

@Pistol, that could describe our Treasurer and explain the shocking job he is doing He's a lawyer but doing the job that an economist should be doing.